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When people ask me why I take my meds I say chronic HIV 1 infection, maybe it's the scientist in me,maybe its a cultural (English) thing

Deffo off organisations that are eg called Positive Nation, Positive Place, Positive Help etc (although this Scottish ASO called Positive Help is rather to the point and useful as it happens) or some kind of intials like ABCD+, ENP+, GNP+, HIDEHO+

Matt, I will walk into this one and step on the eggs. What drives me nuts is the phrase 'I am hiv' as opposed to 'I am hiv positive.' (Told you I would walk right in.) As in G.M.H.C. meaning gay men's health club instead of crisis. The diminutive 'pozzie' does grate and the 'poz' as opposed to 'positive.' Win

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Winthrop Smith has published three collections of poetry: Ghetto: From The First Five; The Weigh-In: Collected Poems; Skin Check: New York Poems. The last was published in December 2006. He has a work-in-progress underway titled Starting Positions.

George Orwell used to decry the process by which mass media causes language to become bland. I took that to heart as a teenager, and through the process became very interested in language and linguistics. In fact, I liked linguistics so much that I have an MA in it.

And, basically, comparative structures like XXX positive which derive from YYY positive, aren't really that unusual. Just about anything which proves useful in language (for example, the suffix construction -postive) gets used, overused, and then it eventually becomes archaic. I see no reason to get emotional about it. It speaks more to the attachment to the connotation of the word "positive" to you than to the usefulness of the suffix to speakers of English.

As far as the abbreviation of "positive" to "poz" .... or the dimunition of "positive" to "pozzie", these are also perfectly normal linguistic processes. Generally, the law of linguistic economy dictates that "positive" would eventually become "poz" much in the way that "taximeter cabriolet" evenually became "taxicab" or just "cab". The word is no less useful, and much simpler to say. It also, as a general rule, fits better into the phonetic patterns of English, so pretty much feels more natural to the average speaker.

Grammar purists decry change in language as something akin to a sign of the apocalypse. All languages change... it is a process that cannot be stopped. It is perhaps more interesting to analyze why a particular speaker would have an issue with one particular change and not another. It says a lot about a person.

For example, I cringe every time I hear anything that even closely resembles psychobabble. It's basically, I think, because I am stongly prejudiced against re-wording things in order to lessen their effect. And, frankly, in my opinion, a jerk is a jerk even if he is emotionally challenged.

« Last Edit: February 10, 2007, 03:48:47 PM by dtwpuck »

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Floating through the void in the caress of two giant pink lobsters named Esmerelda and Keith.

The term doesn't bother me at all and have used it plenty of times. If a person doesn't want to be called poz, then you should let others know this. It would also be nice to know what you would want to be called. If nothing at all and just your name, fine, if something else, fine too. I try to work with people's preference but if you don't make it known then how the hell am I suppose to know? Just throwing that out there.

It doesn't bother me to be called poz by other poz people and especially online but it bothers me that I will from now on be identified as an HIV positive person. Yes, I am positive, but that is not who I am. What is bothersome is when people use the term AIDS so commonly. They called the drugs I take AIDS drugs and the disease I have is AIDS. Technically I guess I already have AIDS at 200CD4 cells but I hope to rebound my CD4 cells and not see them drop this low. The word AIDS bothers me more than poz.

No. I sorta like it, but I don't think it has much meaning beyond poz people and those who deal with them. If you walk up to 10 people and announce "I am poz" I bet at least half would have no clue what you mean.

Boo

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String up every aristocrat!Out with the priests and let them live on their fat!

As far as the abbreviation of "positive" to "poz" .... or the dimunition of "positive" to "pozzie", these are also perfectly normal linguistic processes. Generally, the law of linguistic economy dictates that "positive" would eventually become "poz" much in the way that "taximeter cabriolet" evenually became "taxicab" or just "cab". The word is no less useful, and much simpler to say. It also, as a general rule, fits better into the phonetic patterns of English, so pretty much feels more natural to the average speaker.

Speaking as one who shortens everything, "Seven-Eleven" has become "The Sev," "Project Runway" is now "The Proj," and "HIV" has actually become a phoenetically-pronounced word instead of an acronym, I find that the things I tend to shorten are that which I have to say most often.

That said, "poz" instead of "HIV positive" is, to me, as objectionable as saying "AIDS" instead of "Acquired Immunodeficiency syndrome" every time... which is not at all.

it's all i ever think about in one way or another that i am hiv positive and how it effects my life. i fear what people will think if they knew or if they can't tell because to me i feel like it's written all over my face. sometimes i'm okay with it and other times i hate it and don't want it to be part of who i am but it's infected every cell. i try not to hold it against me that i didn't protect myself. i can't change the past all i can do is live for today and keep faith to see my future.

Speaking as one who shortens everything, "Seven-Eleven" has become "The Sev," "Project Runway" is now "The Proj," and "HIV" has actually become a phoenetically-pronounced word instead of an acronym, I find that the things I tend to shorten are that which I have to say most often.

That said, "poz" instead of "HIV positive" is, to me, as objectionable as saying "AIDS" instead of "Acquired Immunodeficiency syndrome" every time... which is not at all.

Yes, I also don't like the abbreviated... Such as It used to be Anderson Cooper 360, now it's AC 360. America's favorite videos, is now AFV. That just drives me nuts. I know there are more...

Thats just the way I am though. And yes, if I was to walk down the street and say I am "poz" some people would wonder what I meant. If I said I was HIV positive, those same people, would know exactly what I meant.

I Will just live with it, like all the other boyz (boiz) and Girlz.....

Matt, I like blowing their minds and say, I have AIDS. Then I wait for a stupid reaction. I've noticed it doesn't bother people like it use to. My doctor is big on Advanced HIV disease. I could say, I have human immunodeficiency virus but then I get that what is that look.

This forum is the only place I use "POZ" CUZ it gets the message across quickly andbecause I type so frigging slow+ typos that I can use all the help I can get.Nice eggy poem, newt.I wouldn't like it if I had hear someone use it to refer to themselves, though. On that, I'd agree wholeheartedly.Luckily I don't talk to many people these days since I'm located in rural area.........and I like it that way.

I for one can't say I'm fed up with it...at least not yet. Perhaps we should come up with our own term, like how the term for homosexuals was replaced by the happy "gay" term. Although it may be difficult to incorporate into daily conversations, expecially since the forums is found on "poz.com", but we can be trendsetters. I'll start off with a few suggestions. So my sister and I have our own secret language that we use when we're talking or chatting online. Someone who is HIV+, we say he/she has "sugar", as in sweetness. Yes, I have sugar but sorry, I don't let anyone borrow a cup. We also have a term for gay, and it's "intense". Yes, I'm intense but that's only because I can't change who I am.

As for people using AIDS in lieu of HIV+ Ihavehope, it bothers me too but whenever that happens in my presence, I'm sure to correct it/them without any reservations (oops, did I let the tiger out...sorry, I can go from 0 to bitch in less than 2 seconds, haha).

I think it is just a process of linguistic evolution.....if being "HIV Positive" has evolved to being "Poz" I am okay with it....I find it more annoying when filling out health-related paperwork and there is a question "Do you have AIDS?"....I would probably answer "no" and then elaborate in the margin or add another question: "Are you HIV positive?" and answer "yes" to my addition.

Hey RR, I'm well aware of the AIDS definition. It bothers me when people who don't know the distinction between HIV+/AIDS -especially the uninformed neggies- use it synonomously with everyone who is HIV+.

terpie82, that is something that will always be. That is the same as people that hear that someone had stints put in for vascular heart disease always presumming that, that person has had a heart attack when is far from the truth. That's something we can't avoid.

Matt, I like blowing their minds and say, I have AIDS. Then I wait for a stupid reaction. I've noticed it doesn't bother people like it use to.

Rod, I do the same thing and most people are so incredulous (mainly because I'm overweight and they think everyone with "AIDS" is skeletal) they usually don't know what to say but "I'm sorry." My standard response is "Don't be sorry, I've had a very easy time of it all-in-all and at the rate I'm going I'll probably live longer than I really want to..." Almost everyone is pretty cool about it -- no one's ever started and stepped back or anything like that.

Even when I used to say "I'm HIV+" people were incredulous, but that was back in the days when I had a size 32 waist and a decent body. The stereotype of the emaciated and pallid "AIDS victim" is still alive and well.

Boo

P.S. I dislike the biohazard tattoo because it implies the wearer is a danger to others (I know the tattoo is ironic but irony is lost on a lot of people). I have a small equilateral black cross with a pink triangle in the center of my left shoulder. I should have just had "HIV+" tattooed there because most neg people (an even some pozzies) ask me what it means. I say it means I'm a gay christian. If they're stupid enough to believe me I know to avoid further interaction with them.

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String up every aristocrat!Out with the priests and let them live on their fat!

Boo, that's like being told, "You don't look like anything is wrong with you or Nah, you don't have AIDS you look as healthy as a horse." My reply is, "don't let my looks deceive you." If I want to have fun, I always ask, "What I'm I suppose to look like?"

The community is famous for coming up with slang terms for a lot of facets in our life. personally POZ term doesn't bother me (it's less letters to type). it's just a fact of life that people are always going to make slang and it can change over time e.g. previously AIDS was called GRID, although I will say neither soounds good, but its only because the connotations that people have assoc with those words. The word really doesn't matter, it's how the word is used and defined in the media. Let's face it the media has a lot of power in determinng the meaning of a term.

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"I do not believe in a fate that will fall on us no matter what we do. I do believe in a fate that will fall on us if we do nothing."

However, when I hear some really nelly guy say us pozzies or what not I just cringe.

The terms I find offensive are "Clean" and "barebacking". Uh, now those two really irk me. Why is it that unsafe sex between gay men gets this horrible term? Is there an equivalent for straight people who have unsafe sex?

The most vile one to me is still "clean".

As far as poz, I got no issue with it so long as people don't start introducing me as their poz friend ; )

Strange that you should bring this up cos I'm into positive thinking and living and whenever I say to folk something like "I'm feeling really positive" I find myself grinning. Not that I'm particularly happy at anything at that precise moment nor am I crazy (well maybe a little) but I find myself grinning at the different way I'm using the word 'positive' nowadays. The irony, I guess.

Seven years into my diagnosis, I'm now aware that I spent a huge part of that period obsessing over and adjusting to the new uninvited permanent viral resident in my life. It may sound nuts but being diagnosed hiv+ really f**ked up my use of the word positive for a long long time. A word that had been a normal everyday word in my vernacular suddenly started sticking in my throat.

But thankfully something has shifted again. Not sure what or why but it has. And now when I use the word 'positive' I can kick it around quite comfortably and with some amusement to mean either my hiv status and/or my frame of mind. Like I said, strange.

However, the shortened term Ďpozí makes me think of Scousers (Liverpudlians), who have a tendency to shorten almost every word. So, as a ĎMancí, I avoid using it. Nuff said! [perhaps UK members only will get this bit..]

As far as using the term 'positive' to disclose, I've always just said (after taking a deep breath): "I have hiv". Thinking back now, when I said that I often felt like I should have been wearing a label too or waving a flag or something! I'm actually rethinking my whole disclosure technique. I'm thinking along the lines of trying something like:

"I have hiv, 2 beautiful cats and really nice breasts!"

See where that gets me...

By the by, mr the newt, like your ditty!

Melia

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